Marla Sokoloff’s Blog: Adventures in Baby Traveling

Since audiences first got to know her at age 12 as Gia on Full House, Sokoloff has had many memorable TV roles — Jody on Party of Five, Lucy on The Practice, Claire on Desperate Housewives – as well as turns on the big screen in Whatever It Takes, Dude, Where’s My Car? and Sugar & Spice.

Sokoloff, 32, also sings and plays guitar and released an album, Grateful, in 2005.

She wed her husband, music composer Alec Puro, in November 2009 and the couple — plus pup Coco Puro — make their home in Los Angeles.

Happy 2013! I don’t know about you, but I’m completely amazed at how fast 2012 flew by! I must admit, on New Year’s Day I found myself a little weepy to say goodbye to the year that my little Elliotte came into this world. I realized that as long as I’m on this earth I will always have a soft spot for the year 2012, as it was a complete life and game-changer for me. (Clearly it’s also the year that turned me into a total sap!)

As far as resolutions go, I have a few. They include the usual suspects (exercise more, get more sleep, drink more than four sips of water per day!) but my main focus is going to be on my beloved iPhone and our very dysfunctional relationship.

I really want to work on being in the present and putting that thing down so I can suck up every delicious moment with my family. The social media and pinboards will just have to wait until after my daughter goes to bed. Baby steps!

This is where my resolution isn’t a good thing because — had I not had my trusty iPhone glued to my body — I might have missed the moment. Her grandparents would have killed me! I’m just saying…

Happy New Year! – Courtesy Marla Sokoloff

We spent our Christmas vacation in paradise on the Big Island of Hawaii, but I’m here to tell you that getting there was nothing short of a nightmare. I’m not going to lie or candy-coat this blog at all because this experience was one I never want to relive.

All of my friends warned me about baby airplane travel … basically it could go either way. Kids are wild cards and you never really know what you’re going to get. So in preparation for my little wild card, I boarded our flight armed with earplugs and chocolates for the innocent passengers that could potentially be caught in the line of fire, so to speak. All the while knowing that I will never need to bring out said earplugs … I mean, my child is perfect after all!

This wasn’t Elliotte’s first flight — over the summer we traveled to San Francisco and my little angel slept for the hour flight each way, so I was certain we had this Hawaiian excursion in the bag.

I came equipped with two giant diaper bags. One was filled with diaper bag essentials (diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottles, change of clothes for both of us) and the other ridiculously large bag was filled with toys and snacks. So many toys and snacks!! If this plane went down, Elliotte could feed the whole cabin with her copious supply of puffs and Cheerios. Basically the plan was, if this kid wasn’t sleeping, I was going to keep her busy and well-fed!

My special edition diaper bag also contained an emergency item. An SOS of sorts. An article that is generally considered a baby no-no in my house, but one that was only to be revealed if absolutely 100 percent necessary. Friends, I’m talking about the iPad. I loaded my secret weapon up with episodes of Sesame Street and adorable farm animal applications that looked like they would keep Elliotte entertained for at least a temper tantrum or two.

Very much like the aforementioned earplugs, I felt pretty confident that our no-no item wouldn’t be making an appearance.

Before takeoff… – Courtesy Marla Sokoloff

As our flight took off, I could see that Elliotte was not the happy camper I know and love. Her face turned beet-red within seconds and she was thrashing in her carseat as if it was a torture device. The tears were flowing fast and her scream was one that could not be silenced.

I looked at my husband, whose eyes said, “Bring out the iPad!!” but I knew it was way too early in our journey to pull such tricks out of sleeves.

As Alec handed out the chocolate and earplugs to our unlucky neighbors, I brought out some of Elliotte’s favorite toys. Every toy that was presented was met with a louder scream. I moved on to my trusted stash of snacks — surely a handful of puffs would soothe this outburst. Fail. I sang. I danced. I peek-a-booed. Nothing.

How can this be? The seat belt sign hasn’t even been turned off yet and I have pretty much emptied out the contents of my special-edition diaper bag!

Once the captain decided to put me out of my misery and turned the seat belt sign off, I ripped Elliotte out of her carseat (the one I brought thinking she would sleep in) and decided a nice walk down the aisle would do us both some good.

That mission was quickly aborted as the scream-fest continued to unaffected rows that were surely enjoying their cocktails and weekly gossip magazines.

My beach baby in Hawaii – Courtesy Marla Sokoloff

I handed her off to my husband and I took a much-needed break, as well as the first deep breath I had taken since leaving Los Angeles International Airport. We were now three-and-a-half hours into our six-hour flight and Elliotte showed no signs of slowing down. It was in this moment that I turned to my family and saw the chaos.

My seat was littered with toys and Cheerios and my poor child looked like a complete mess. Her face was tear-stained and her clothes were covered in squeezable applesauce. (Another failed mission.)

I knew it was time to bring out the big guns. Elmo needed to step in and he better be bringing his A-game.

I placed Elliotte on my lap and out came the iPad. Images of all of my favorite characters appeared on the screen and I instantly felt comforted by my childhood friends. Not only because they are the same characters that were my source of calm as a child, but also I knew they were the lifesavers we so desperately needed.

Well … I guess iPads and big yellow birds aren’t that comforting to teething babies that are 30,000 feet up in the air. The iPad went flying and I sunk into my seat holding my very unhappy girl tight. I was officially out of ideas.

Hawaiian fun in the sun – Courtesy Marla Sokoloff

A kind woman in front of me asked to hold Elliotte. She saw in my eyes that I was breaking down and she was a mom who got it. She understood. She didn’t judge or hate us for disrupting the beginning of her holiday vacation — she was happy to help because she had once been in our shoes with her own child. Elliotte enjoyed the break from her parents and was actually smiling in her arms.

We finally arrived in paradise and upon landing, Alec and I decided that we were moving to Hawaii as we were never going to step foot on a plane ever again.

In all fairness, in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Elliotte went from havingtwo teeth to eight teeth so I think the plane and cabin pressure exacerbated any existing pain she was already having. Our journey home was slightly better and she even slept for two beautiful hours!

Thank you for letting me share my story — I would absolutely love to hear some of your travel woes! I’m sure it’s even more fun for those of you who have multiple children.

Hysterical! I’ve been in your shoes– even down to the forbidden Sesame Street iPad! Elliotte is just gorgeous and love the blog–

Sash
on January 15th, 2013

You are very sweet and considerate to offer chocolates and ear plugs to other travelers. Crying babies I can handle, it’s the 4 year old kicking the back of my chair “for fun” and their overly tolerant parents that get me worked up. I’ve been through the same situation with my babies on a plane🙂 Elliotte is just precious.

Rebecca
on January 16th, 2013

This was so funny. Sometimes nothing works! : )))

Courtney
on January 16th, 2013

My little guy is just a few months older than Elliotte, and this is why I’ve been so afraid to fly. It is so hard with babies because you can’t reason with them. Heck, you can’t even bribe them! You are a braver mom than I am. I’m sure she will do great next time.

Janae
on January 16th, 2013

Our first flight with our first son was when he was just over 2 years old. It was pretty good overall (4 hour flight) but he did have some upset moments…unfortunately during our descent at our destination airport I couldn’t even help him: My ears were killing me! It was crazy how bad they hurt but it definitely gave me some perspective on what a baby might be feeling during a flight.

We survived our journey despite a fellow passenger that would *glare* at my son every time my baby said a single word – it was absurd! My son didn’t have any upset outbursts until well into the flight but the crazy guy started with the looks immediately. When the guy kept looking back at my yet-to-do-more-than-speak 2yo son I was getting very annoyed and said to my husband “I know! Maybe we can make him (the baby) cry!” Then the guy stopped turning around.🙂

Anyway, on our two trips our best tips are: 2 year olds love opening wrapped gifts. We got *tons* of little little toys and wrapped them up. He LOVED it. When we traveled again with our then 3.5 yo and our 15 mo, it was much easier although we still rely on wrapped gifts as stay calm and quite incentive. The 3yo watched videos and colored and the 15 mo slept, breastfed, and played with stickers and other random new toys. Oh, and the 15mo flirted up a storm with a fellow passenger. So much so that she gave him a hat she had knit! Best plane ride ever.

You have a beautiful family! Good luck with future travels!

Andrea
on January 16th, 2013

We just went to the big island with our 17 month old daughter! Except we flew out of Chicago on a direct flight to Honolulu…9 hours! I also have a 4 year old, she was really good though and could be entertained with coloring books, leap pad games… We didn’t have an ipad or even a laptop with movies, I really wish we did though.

She was pretty good overall, we definitely had some screams and even gave her a sucker at one point just to get her to stop! I know… but in the heat of the moment I go into freak out mode. Good thing my husband was the calm one. And luckily on our way home we had a night flight (I was worried at first) and they slept the WHOLE WAY!! Even with a layover in LA.. I am doing the night flight next time!

Kim Q
on January 16th, 2013

The worst flight ever was with my 20 month old and my 6 year old. We were flying to Ireland. The 20 month old was the wild card, or so I thought. Nope, she was fine. She slept, fitfully, but at least she slept.

My 6 year old got a sore stomach as we were getting onto the plane. She seemed okay though and fell asleep as well. Until she woke up and threw up all over herself and her seat. Luckily it did not get me- I had spare clothes for them but had already used my own spare clothes after an unforeseen 1-day flight delay. So I had to take my daughter, who was covered in vomit, into the microscopic bathroom and get her changed.

In the process, I had to try to clean up her seat because the flight attendants were MIA. I finally found one who helped. At least this all occurred while the lights were turned down and most people were asleep. I can only imagine how infinitely worse it would have been if there was a line for the bathroom and people staring! We eventually made it and I think I had aged 5 years.

Nicole
on January 16th, 2013

I gave birth to my daughter (my first too) in 2012 as well…glad to hear that I am not the only one who felt sad on New Years!

Abbie
on January 16th, 2013

Love your blog Marla. I am not a mom (I really hope to be one day). You are so honest about the good and the bad. (Just like Jenna, whose blog I also love.) I have to admit I have gotten annoyed hearing a child scream for hours on end on a plane, but I also remember the pain of my ears popping as a kid and not understanding what was going on. It is life, no one and no situation is perfect. We all just need a little more compassion and tolerance!

I feel like I wrote this blog last week! 10 month old, puffs, cheerios, Elmo, and barnyard animals on an iPad. I swore I was moving to Houston, TX because that’s where the layover was on our cross country flight! Hysterical!

Trust me you will look back on that flight and laugh. I fly a lot with my daughter, and thankfully I never had a screamfest. However I did have her puke all over me, as we were descending.

Julia was 4, and potty trained so I had no wipes. The attendants couldn’t get up because we were descending. I had to wipe up the puke with my cashmere sweater.

Thankfully a kind woman in the row next to me gave me a pack of wipes, and when I took 2, and handed them back, she told me to keep them. As moms we have all been there in one way or the other.

kpmonkeymommy
on January 17th, 2013

so sorry it was a rough trip, but glad you guys were trying all the tricks in the book, that you brought her carseat along for safety, and big hugs to all the people who were patient and understanding with your daughter, especially that woman who offered to hold her a bit so you could take a break and not have your stress feed into the baby.

it’s always the kindness of strangers that get us through the breaking point on a plane! i remember flying on my own with my 4 month old from CA to NC, sitting next to two people i didn’t know who turned out to be the most helpful plane-mates ever. they got me water when my baby was asleep and i couldn’t move, helped me with my book, and retrieved tossed toys. lifesavers!

meme
on January 17th, 2013

Love reading your blogs! Beautiful mommy and baby. I am leaving for Cuba in two weeks. We are taking our three kids aged 6, 5 and 18mos. I am really nervous about the baby! It was too expensive to get him a seat, so he will be on my knee. I am going to bring out all the tricks I can think of. I am not above bribing! lol

I liked the suckers idea another commentor had. Note to self: buy suckers, lots of suckers!

Julia
on January 17th, 2013

The first time we traveled with our son he was 3 weeks old. I distinctly remember the guy sitting next to us giving us “the look.” My son slept the entire 2 hours and didn’t wake once.

I wasn’t brave enough to try it again until recently, my son was 3.5 years old at the time. For some unknown reason he did not want to buckle-up and I emptied my snack bag within 30 minutes of our 3.5 hour flight. I tried coloring and some games, but he would not have it. I caved and gave him the iPad that had all his favorite cartoons already downloaded along with a few new educational apps that he loved. Thank god for technology.

Amanda K
on January 17th, 2013

Thank you for sharing your travel story. I have been thinking about a trip soon with my little one down the road and it’s nice to learn from other Mom’s experiences. I enjoy your posts a lot as well.🙂

Pam
on January 17th, 2013

Great story and I feel for you!! I took my 9 month old son to visit friends (about 3 hours away) and my trip there was great, but it took 6 hours to come home! My son DID NOT want to be in the car any longer! He was so over it…but we finally made it home, but I have vowed to wait a little longer to travel with him!!🙂 He’s now 14 months and we still don’t have a long car trip planned…

Stacey
on January 17th, 2013

I took a plane ride from Oklahoma to Florida , ALONE, with my four year old and 19 month old. Four year old did fine, 19 month old, nightmare!!!!!!!! Every toy and snack I brought for him he immediately threw on the floor and he WOULD NOT stop climbing over the tops of the seats. I said I would never bring a baby on a plane again . I’ve had 2 kids since him, and we now drive for every trip and vacation!!

Arlene Rogers
on January 17th, 2013

Hi! My daughter gave birth to my grandson 15mo. ago. He is one active little boy. He started walking at 10 1/2mo. He generally is a happy boy except when he starts teething he becomes very hard to handle. I suggested to her to give him some tylenol when he has teething pain. I always gave it to my children and it always quieted them down. Good luck.

Jen
on January 18th, 2013

We flew to CO over Christmas with our 3 yr old and 1 yr old. We never heard a peep out of the 3 yr old as we stocked our iPad with numerous Princess/Barbie/Chipmunk movies. Thankfully on the flight there our little one slept for 2 hours, on the flight back we weren’t so lucky. She slept for only an hour and then wanted to go, go, go!

Luckily, there were 3 other screaming babies on the flight so it made our 1 year old look like an angel!

Julie
on January 18th, 2013

Happens to everyone, we have twin boys and decided to fly to visit my father in law when they were 1.5 years old. They took turns crying at first and then one of our sons cried (screamed really) for almost the entire 5 hours flight. It was the longest flight of my life. We could not settle him down and I was in tears. It was rough and I did not want to take another flight.

It gets better. We just flew with them again, they are now 4 (took us a while to get back on the horse) and they were fantastic the entire time for all legs.

Jennifer
on January 18th, 2013

I had one in 2002 we took on a plane from FL to CO at 5 months old. No iPads back then, just a pacifier, a bottle, and if I remember correctly, infant benadryl or some other calming medication that helped him sleep. Best. Baby. Ever. We got compliments on how well behaved he was. There were other children not so well behaved.

In 2004, we then had 2 kids, one 2 year old (the then 5 month old) and one just under a year. Again traveling from FL to CO, this time with layovers. Not fun traveling with kids, and layovers, but I have to say we never had any big issues thankfully.

Loved reading your story though. Lots of laughs reading it.

Terri Quinn
on January 18th, 2013

I feel for you, there are many things on a plane that can make or break the trip. I am sure that if there were some people getting annoyed, they must not have children. Everyone knows that babies Elliotte’s age are teething.

I once traveled with my best friends son who has a terminal illness and severe mental retardation. He was fun for a five hour flight from Pittsburgh International to LAX. He has one favorite saying which is “I use the bathroom”! It was all good though, he wasn’t too bad. You just have to keep the boy entertained the whole time.

joyce
on January 18th, 2013

My infant son has a cold and we flew to Disneyland with the family. His ear drum burst with all the pressure. Blood was on my shirt. Poor kid. I will never fly with a child who has a cold again.

Wow! I think this is one of my biggest fears and thus haven’t travelled with my 16 mth old for long journeys as yet. He gets a tad impatient and I’m scared of what the plane ride will entail. However, I’m planning to brave it this summer (already praying) who knows, it may be a pleasant surprise.

I love your blog, do keep up the good work. Big hugs from one mom to another xoxo

Marie
on January 18th, 2013

I am not a mom and I have flown a limited number of times, but I will say that from my perspective there is a difference between a baby crying and a child that the parents refuse to discipline. I cannot blame the parents of a teething baby, but I can blame the parents of an unruly child who keeps kicking my seat and has never heard the word “no”.

Thanks for sharing! I always look forward to your blog posts. Best of luck!

Casey
on January 18th, 2013

I’ve had great success traveling with my kids so far (two summers ago with my boys when they were 3 and 1, and last August with my daughter when she was 4 months old), but this story has me TERRIFIED to take all 3 of them to Los Angeles this summer! I know I am going to go into it thinking we are pros and that is definitely going to be my first mistake!

Sarah
on January 18th, 2013

It sounds like you did everything you could think of. And when people can see you working your butt off, if its any consolation, it takes the “ugh-ness” out of it and you mostly just feel sorry for the poor exhausted parents who look like they could really use a gin and tonic!!!!

The chocolate and earplugs idea would have made me smile if I was in front of you, brilliant!

Anna
on January 18th, 2013

As long as I see the parents trying to do something about an upset child (or especially older kids who are really misbehaving), than as a childless person I’m okay with it. I so appreciate you and Alec handing out earplugs and chocolate – I will have to remember that when I have kids!

Sometimes you bring everything possible to try and distract them and its all useless but at least you tried. I hope any future travel excursions are more successful for you.

davisfamilyblogs
on January 18th, 2013

Bless your heart. What a trip.

My story… when my child was 15 months old, we flew from Maryland to Houston for Easter. My husband was on a base in the desert. I just knew my blonde, curly-headed green eyed boy was going to be great. After all, we’d flown many times and he never gave us a problem at all. Little did I know.

All was well until the plane took off. He started screaming like a banshee. He was clawing me, fighting me and I had NO clue what to do. Like you, I tried bottle, snacks, etc. It was awful. And you should know that he was 33 inches tall (half my height by then).

A male passenger catty corner to me kept turning around looking at us and then he started yelling at me “what the hell kind of parent are you that you can’t control your F-ing child? Do something! Shut him up!” I thought, you’re right buddy, these claw marks and my newly disheveled look courtesy of the wild card is just how I wanted to spend my flight.

Well, the attendant took my son and said “follow me!” You know they made me a bloody mary and comforted him. She said she thought he might have an ear infection and warmed up his bottle. I gave him some Tylenol and he finally relaxed. And she also took that other passenger to task. Hmmph.

When we got to Houston, we went to a relative’s pediatrician. Turns out he had a double ear infection – no fever. I didn’t know.

Most of the passengers were wonderful, but I will never forget how ugly that man was and I would NEVER be upset with any mother and a screaming child. I dreaded the flight home, but he did way better. I wish I’d have carried ear plugs and chocolate. Great idea.

Natasha
on January 18th, 2013

You mentioned teething in your story… I would have checked with my pediatrician about using teething gels or medication on the flight, in addition to the natural pain relievers and toys out there.

Alana
on January 18th, 2013

Skip a feeding in the hours boarding the flight. Then, as the flight takes off have your daughter suck on a milk/juice filled bottle. The sucking motion may relieve some of the pressure she is feeling in her ears, nose, throat/teeth. She will also be hungry at that point, as you have skipped an earlier feeding, so she will take to the bottle. Good luck! Your baby is beautiful.

SLD
on January 19th, 2013

My nanny and I flew with my twins when they were 6 months old. We had seats next to each other, but immediately before take off, the flight attendant said we couldn’t have two babies in the same row because of an oxygen mask rule. We barely had time to switch seats before takeoff and didn’t have time to split up anything in the diaper bag.

We spent the whole flight passing the babies from middle seat to middle seat, passing burp cloths and bottles across the aisle. And of course a nipple leaked and got all over the man-next-door’s pants. What a mess!! Thankfully all the other passenger were sweet and it was a short flight!

On the way back when we knew we would be split up, we had two diaper bags and no problems. If only they had told us this before! Talk about frustrating.

L
on January 19th, 2013

I fly all the time with my 1 and 2 yr old? and so far they have been great except for one time my 2 year old refused to put on his seatbelt. Meanwhile, I got to chatting with a man waiting in line for the bathroom, he said he had 5 children from ages 3-16.

On his way back from the bathroom he saw I was still struggling to get my son to keep his seatbelt on so he stopped at our row, leaned down close to my son and said, “if you don’t keep your seatbelt on you are going to get into big trouble!” I almost broke out in laughter and my son quickly sat up and put the belt on. I won’t ever forget him!

K from Canada
on January 19th, 2013

Oh my goodness, I feel like I just wrote the first part of that article (sad that 2012 is over, need to put my damn iPhone away)! Both couldn’t be anymore me AND I justify having it attached to me at all times to capture every detail!

As for part 2…eeek we will be travelling to Hawaii in 1 week with our 9month old and I hope I have a better “flight there” story! If not, at least I can think back & know it happens to the best of us!

Thanks for sharing, I love your posts!!!

Ashley1
on January 19th, 2013

Tried keeping the iPhone at a distance, but everything needs to be recorded!

I have a 6 month-old daughter and will be traveling in two months; it’s amazing to me how much I relate to your blogs each time! Elliotte is absolutely gorgeous! I love how you are so honest and willing to share your ups and downs with all of us. I NEED to hear that I’m not the only one! I too have an iPad that is for emergency use only. I grew up with coloring books and magna-doodles. This generation is way too privileged! What am I going to do on my flight? Should I truly pack something for the nearby passengers? You were adorable to do so🙂

Ashley1
on January 19th, 2013

You are way too patient. I lose my s**t in a hurry. Have a 6 month-old daughter and will be flying in two months, and I think I’m going to have to plan for a disaster. My iPad is also for emergencies only, but I break easy. I was always the first person in line to criticize parents who couldn’t control their children. Bottom line is, a teething baby is not a CHILD. People need to be tolerant of mothers with infants until airlines create soundproof mama rooms. Wild kids can be kicked off for all I care; the product of parents with no grit. SAY NO!!!

We new mamas try our best. If we get out, we’ve pushed ourselves to the limit. We would much rather cuddle our finicky munchkins in bed, but alas, we must dress, pack, wipe, soothe, cradle, jiggle, bounce, our crazy little babies until we go mental and people give us cut-eye. Kudos to you for all your efforts! I hope to make it through my first-time flight!!! Love you Marla!!

Halley
on January 19th, 2013

We’ve all been there! On my oldest son’s first flight at 16 months he would only stop screaming if he was allowed to walk up and down the plane aisle, so I followed him up and down the plane aisle all the way from Kansas City to New York City.

You can imagine how much passengers trying to get to the bathroom or flight attendants trying to serve carts of things loved us. Not to mention every single passenger that he had to inspect EVERY time he passed their seat. All you can do is laugh.

If its any consolation, by the time he was three my son became a perfect little traveler and we havent had any issues since then. Just hold out another year or two and I bet Elliotte is the same!

Gwen Smallwood
on January 19th, 2013

I remember our first flight with our son Wyatt. He was 12 weeks old and we were going to Palm Springs in January. We had left our winter coats when we were dropped off at the airport – not knowing that we would have to board our flight by going outside and to the plane – it was -29 C – I was crazy upset that no one had told us about it until we were boarding.

Then we had a connecting flight in Minneapolis – we had prepared for this and had asked for our stroller to be unloaded so we could make our connecting flight. However the airline had checked it as luggage, so we had to carry our 15 pound babe plus diaper bag and carry ons from one end of the airport to the other to catch our flight.

Thankfully, he was the best baby on all the flights – he slept through most of it and handled the changing air pressure beautifully (I made sure to feed him a bottle during take offs and landings). He’s 10 now and has made many trips to Palm Springs since and continues to be a great traveller.

Dana
on January 19th, 2013

I, too, took a flight with my “angel” of a baby and when hell broke loose I basically bared all for the passengers to see because I kept a boob in her mouth almost the whole trip. I not only made everyone uncomfortable with a screaming baby, but they now had to deal with my nudity. 🙂 oh well.

Maryanne
on January 19th, 2013

Good for you for sharing this. Love your blog, puts things in perspective and very realistic!!

Alyssa
on January 19th, 2013

Wow! What an adventure! I feel your pain about bringing out the IPad. My almost 1 year old (on Monday!) loves my phone so much because he “FaceTimes” my mom. If I talk on it, he screams to hold it. Some days, I feel like I have ruined his life for all eternity. because he is already into technology- but then I think that with all the buttons he can push on the remotes, computer, and phones- maybe he will be some sort of engineer!🙂

Michele
on January 19th, 2013

I feel for you! I have three kids and I am eternally empathetic to parents traveling with little ones!

On our first flight with our 8-month-old son, we were in a smaller plane – very close quarters. The flight was only about an hour and a half, but our son decided five minutes in to poop. It was baaad. Toxic.

And when I say there was nowhere to change him – there was NOWHERE! We were like sardines. Mortifying. We just had to laugh about it. True to his nature, my son was happy as a clam and managed to charm the other passengers even WITH a reeking diaper, thank God…

giobravo
on January 19th, 2013

Marla,

Dang kid now that story right there has the makings of a hit movie. Travels with the kid. Haha!❤ Well at least you found something, if by that I only mean someone, to help her settle.🙂

When my nephew was a toddler, like 20 years ago, he never calmed down until his parents took him on a car ride. Then he'd fall fast to sleep. Not sure if its any different with girls or if it just depends on the kid. She could've been teething and that's what brought on such excitement. You never know!

The beautiful thing is you're there and you can talk about these experiences. Lots of celebrities are so caught up working that they don't have time to be home. I'm sure you know you're blessed. Just stay strong and keep on keeping on. You're getting there. Everything in life is a learning experience. Like a science experiment. You never know the solution without a few tests.😉

Love ya. Take good care of yourself, your husband and baby.

Later gator,

– John Lewis Wright

Sarah
on January 19th, 2013

LOL I love how your husband immediately wanted to go for the iPad, my husband would have done the same thing🙂

Anonymous
on January 19th, 2013

Babies/Kids need to drink or suck a pacifier or bottle or if old enough chew gum on take off and landing. The change in pressure kills the ears.

texas
on January 28th, 2013

Just because the pilot has the seat belt sign on doesn’t mean a parent can’t hold their baby in their lap. So she didn’t have to wait for the sign to go off to comfort her baby.

Shauna
on February 1st, 2013

Your blog is one of my favorites. It makes me feel like I’m in good company – thanks for keeping it real!

angela
on February 12th, 2013

My youngest is nearly six months. We live in a different country as the rest of our family. She has been on a total of 14 flights, including a trip to Ireland. I have always purchased her a seat, as I do my older two. I took my first flight with her when she was five weeks, since I had to go home for a funeral. We haven`t started teething yet, but I do see it starting in the near future, so it may make it harder then, but right now, she is a happy flyer. I fly often with my three girls by myself. My husband is out of town for work often. I have done 6 flights with a newborn, a five year old and a six year old.